Farm hosts North County Land Trust's annual meeting

Farm hosts North County Land Trust's annual meeting

Local agriculture showcased as group highlights ongoing projects, future plans

Doneen Durling
News Staff Writer


TEMPLETON — Dwelly Farm played host to the North County Land Trust’s annual meeting and inaugural fall festival on Saturday, a day filled with hiking, pumpkin painting and local vendors offering products from apple dumplings and solar deck gardens to alpaca sweaters, fudge, organically grown vegetables and magic wands.

The nonprofit land trust has a focus area that includes 14 communities in North Central Massachusetts. Dwelly Farm, a dairy farm in South Templeton, has been owned by the Dwelly family for over 100 years.


Land trust President Alan Rousseau said placing a conservation restriction on 69 acres of the Dwelly Farm in June was made possible by owner David Dwelly through his will. The land trust hopes to work with the town of Templeton to make the property a community farm and agricultural center.

“This is our very first farm property, and we are very excited about what we can do out here,” said Mr. Rousseau.

“Our mission is land conservation, and we do it in a couple of ways,” said land trust Executive Director Janet Morrison. “One way which helps us to leverage our resources, our manpower, and our money is by doing landscape conservation projects with partners.”

Ms. Morrison said the land trust is now engaged in its second major landscape-scale project, which covers the area between the Quabbin Reservoir and Mount Wachusett.

“It’s called the Quabbin Reservoir to Wachusett Mountain Forest Legacy Project,” she said.

Ms. Morrison said the project would preserve 3,275 acres of watershed land in six communities. The land trust submitted 12 of the 25 tracts of land — including eight properties in Hubbardston, two in Westminster and one in Princeton — for a total of 1,474 acres.
Partners in the project include the Nashua River Watershed Association, the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, East Quabbin Land Trust, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Division of Water Supply Protection and several municipal governments.

The land being conserved includes 85 acres of forested land in Hubbardston, a 100-acre historic farm in the Quabbin watershed, 74 acres of rare North Atlantic White Cedar habitat and 113 acres within the Quabbin watershed in Princeton and Fitchburg’s southern water supply watershed.

Ms. Morrison said partnerships allow the land trust to apply for grants to access more funds for land conservation.

“This particular project was ranked No. 2 in the country, and we were very proud of that fact because we were competing against 69 projects in 48 states for these federal funds,” she said. “We did get the grant for a little over $5 million, and we are just beginning to work on this project, and we will be able to work on it once the country opens up again.”

Ms. Morrison said properties are acquired by donation.

“We are responsible for being good stewards of that land,” she said.

Ms. Morrison said the land trust is currently looking into what can be done and how it can manage the farm. The group has looked into community farming, which she said is new in the area. She said there would be close to six acres, some to be cleared, that could be used to grow food.

“We would very much like to use the farm as an agricultural resource as well as an environmental resource,” she said. “We try to get very involved with the communities we work in.”

Ms. Morrison said by connecting with conservation and planning within the community, the land trust has a greater understanding about local resources and landowners. Stewardship is done through help from volunteers in the communities. Students at Narragansett Regional High School, for example, helped prepare hiking trails at Dwelly Farm.

Guest speaker Carrie Novak, a member of the Templeton Agricultural Committee who is employed by the state Department of Agricultural Resources, discussed local farming at the gathering. She said the town is comprised of 32-1/2 square miles, and is also one of the 140 communities in the state that is a “right to farm” community.

As a member of the town’s agricultural commission, Ms. Novak said she might be called on to speak at town meetings or mediate agricultural conflicts. 

“No. 1 issue, usually? Roosters,” she said.

Ms. Novak said the commission hopes to compile an inventory of the farms in town.

“Our largest agricultural resource is the Templeton Development Center owned by the state, and the timing is great because this week they published a notice that they are looking for an opportunity to rent 275 acres of agricultural land up at the (center),” she said. “There is a greenhouse, there is a dairy barn, there is an orchard, there are hay fields and cornfields. That just went off this week as a solicitation for somebody to rent, so we’re real excited to think that we will get some active farming in our area.”

Ms. Novak said she is excited about the possibilities available through working with the land trust, and what it will mean for Templeton.

For more information on the land trust, call 978-866-3900 or visit www.northcountylandtrust.org.